


I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down

by STILL_not_ginger



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: AU, Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, Bookstores, Coffee, Cute, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Meet-Cute, adorable idiots, whouffaldi, whouffle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-06-27 09:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15682572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STILL_not_ginger/pseuds/STILL_not_ginger
Summary: This is an Alternate Universe setting in which Clara and Twelve meet each other in a bookstore.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! The title is taken from the lyrics of 'Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop' by Landon Pigg. I love that song! Have you guys ever listened to this song? If not I highly recommend it to set the stage for this short fic.

Their hands met, reaching for the same book. But, really, what other way ever was there for a Glaswegian Professor of physics to meet a Blackpudlian English Teacher?

“Sorry.” She said politely and withdrew her hand from a copy of “Poetry of the Universe” by Robert Osserman, arranged in a neat stack on the display table.

He did his level best to act casually as his eyes flickered over to the pixyish woman standing close to him. Socializing was not his strong suit and he had realized from a young age that he was totally against bantering. The woman was dressed smartly, save for the length of her dress perhaps, he quickly noted. An office worker of some fashion or other then, he surmised. She had large brown eyes and a dainty little nose sat in the middle of roundish sort of face. And she looked easily half his age. “Apologize, you prat”, the sensible portion of his brain screamed at him.

She cleared her throat under the weigh of his glare. He hadn’t said a word since she had apologized. Nor had he moved an inch from when he stood, towering over her with his long fingers still splayed across the book jacket. He looked to be in his late 50s with nearly all his hair turned silver. He was tall, but then most men seemed tall when you stood no more than 5’ 2”. His eyes were steely blue and he had a sort of rakish quality that she thought suited him nicely. Possibly the most notable feature were the impressive eyebrows, from under which he continued to stare her down.

He seemed to come back to his senses when he noticed her beginning to fidget and shift her weight back and forth between her feet, clearly awaiting his reaction.

“Ahem, sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair self-consciously.

“My manners are on holiday, evidently, but at least that makes one of us.” His best attempt at a harmless grin looked rather more like a grimace at his own lame attempt at humour.

She smiled and he saw her shoulders relax slightly. He thought she looked pretty when she smiled.

She blinked at him once. Twice. And chuckled softly.

Christ, had he said that out loud?

He scowled at the edge of the table and rubbed the back of his neck, “Sorry, I-I…would you believe I am trying out this new radical honesty thing?” he lied.

“Are you?”

“I might be.”

“And how has that been working out for you thus far?”

“You tell me.”

“Wow, we’re doing charm as well, now, are we? I can’t keep up.”

He flashed her a devilish grin and introduced himself. He found out her name was Clara, Clara Oswald, and that she was an English Teacher at Coal Hill.

“Do you want to go and get some coffee, or chips, or something? Or chips and coffee?”

“Coffee. Coffee would be great. You’re buying.”

He bowed theatrically and winked at her, “Yes, ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading. Drop me a comment and let me know what you thought of it.
> 
> The book I referenced I thought really suited the Doctor/Clara duo. It's about cosmology and seeing beauty and wonder in science and truth.


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clara and the Doctor go on a little coffee date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see how their first date goes :D

Clara took a long sip of her coffee and promptly chucked the accompanying cardboard cup jacket into an obliging waste bin as they walked down the still-wet street. The rain had long-since stopped but the glistening sheen over the darkened pavement still remained and shimmered under the light of lampposts and passing cars.

Relishing the newfound warmth flowing into her fingers she covertly sneaked a glance at the stranger walking next to her in silence. He’d hardly spoken a word to her since they had gone for a coffee, save for asking her how she took hers. And yet, the silence between them was comfortable, peaceful even, and Clara felt in no great hurry to break it. Instead she took in the sights and sounds surrounding them as evening softly fell over shops and flats alike, hemming them in as they walked along.

His longer strides and heavier footfall made his steps sound like a bass beat compared to the sharpness of her ankle boots clicking resolutely from heel to toe. She could still hear the run-off trickling down through storm drains, dripping off the tips of tree branches, and smattering onto the ground from overtop the edges of leaf-clogged gutters. It occurred to her that she didn’t even know his name and, as though he could read her thoughts, he offered up an introduction.

“Dr. John Smith, by the way. Or, just “John”, if you like, though most people simply just call me “Doctor”, he admitted, frowning a bit at the nickname as though it had offended him. “That’s Missy’s fault, really. She’s been my friend since we were little and subsequently followed me when I moved out of Glasgow to go to a different University.”

“What made you decide to leave Glasgow?”, she asked.

“Oh, lots of things, I suppose. I was younger then and I’d just gone through a bit of a bad breakup. I dropped out of University and packed my bags for London to leave all that behind me.”

“Regrets?”, she enquired.

“Oh, _hundreds_. But, there’s always time for a few more.”, he said and smiled down at his shoes. “What about you, then? What brought you to London?”

“And who says I’m not _from_ here?”, she asked hoping to catch him off guard.

“Your accent, for starters.”

“Not _bad_ for a Scotsman”, she said with a little smirk. “Same as you, I suppose, except that I’m from Blackpool originally. Things changed for me all of a sudden and I decided that I was going to make my life what I wanted it to be.”

“So, basically, you’re a control freak then?”, he challenged with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Something like that.”, she granted him with a smile. “Although, we bossy types tend to prefer terms like ‘well-organized’ or ‘schedule-oriented’. It sort of softens the blow and makes us all the more appealing in the singles market.”, she said tipping him a sly wink.

He choked on his sip of coffee and coughed in an effort which was, honestly, half as much to distract her from the fact that he was blushing as it was to expel the beverage from his lungs. When he’d recovered he cleared his throat and made his best attempt at charm which he gamely hoped would not come off as sounding creepy.

“I doubt someone like you has any trouble finding someone who’s interested. I believe we’d already firmly established my sentiments on your smile back in the bookshop, much to my everlasting embarrassment. Sorry again, by the way. I’ve never been much good at…well… _people_.”

“No need to apologize, though mind you, my ego does not need any stroking, but, I’ve definitely experienced my fair share of bad dates. There was Matt, poor Matt, he took me out dancing, if you could even call it that. As it turned out, his idea of dancing looked rather a lot like a kid’s plastic party clacker. Arms struck straight up in the air and smacking into the sides of his head as he lunged across the dance floor.”, he chuckled as she did her best to impersonate what was evidently Matt’s interpretation of ‘dance moves’.

“Needless to say, I ran right out the door straight away before anyone could notice we’d come there together. Then there was Danny. Paranoia would be putting in lightly in his case. No matter what I said over dinner it made him feel slighted and turned into yet another argument until he finally stormed out of the restaurant and stuck me with the bill.”, he winced and faced her with a rueful expression uttering a small “Ouch.”, as if her admission had somehow physically pained him.

“So, in short and your doubts aside, I would say I’ve not had the best track record in finding someone interested. Or, at the very least, not anyone suitable.”

“Well, count your blessings, at least your date never tried to murder you in your own flat.”

“What?!"

“It’s a _long_ story.”, he said before sighing and swiping a hand down his face.

“A long story, I am sure, but one which you do, of course, intend to _tell_ , yeah?”, she asked while stopping in her tracks suddenly, one hand resting on her hip.

“Yes, ma’am.”, he said as the corner of his mouth curled up into a lop-sided grin. She nodded and only then seemed to relent.

“Well, this is me.”, she said as she fished the keys to her flat out of her handbag. “Thank you, Doctor, for the coffee and for the company as well. It’s been a pleasure.”

“Thank you for exactly the same.”, he said and smiled at her broadly but behind it she thought she’d glimpsed a hint of disappointment. It was something about how it didn’t _quite_ reach his eyes and the speed with which it faded afterwards.

“Well.”, she said again and fiddling with her keys. “Goodnight, Doctor.” She had just turned to walk up the steps when he called out to her.

“Clara!”

“Yes, Doctor?”, she asked turning to face him once again. She nervously began to spin her ring around on her pinky finger.

“Er…I-I know this little place next to Coleman’s shopping centre. Excellent little hole in the wall Italian restaurant. Do you know it?”, he said tucking and un-tucking his hands in and out of his coat pockets.

“Capaldi’s?” He nodded. “Yeah, I love that place. My coworkers and I usually go there to reward ourselves after the dreaded parent-teacher conferences.”

“If you are not busy tomorrow night would you maybe like to have dinner there…ahem…w-with...erm…with me?”, he managed to stammer out blinking at her hopefully whilst dragging a hand back through his hair. He couldn’t remember the last time he had asked someone out on a proper date. Or if he ever had, really. Aside from 20 minutes ago in that bookshop, that is. He wondered if all men secretly fantasized about digging a deep hole and burrowing down into it in fear of rejection or if perhaps that was just _him_ or maybe only because it was _her_.

She grinned like a cat who’d got the cream. “I’d like that. How’s 7:00?”

“7:00!”, he exclaimed not quite believing she had agreed to see him again. “7:00 is great. Perfect. I’ll be there. Here! I mean here. Unless of course you want to meet there unles-”

“Doctor.”, she pretended to clear her throat to stifle a laugh. Praise the powers that be, he was worse at this than she was.

“Yes?” He worried his thumb between his teeth.

“Why don’t we meet up here and we’ll get a cab together?”

“A cab. Yeah…Sorry…” He wished with all his might that time travel was possible so that he could go back and smack himself upside the head.

“Goodnight, Doctor.”, she repeated springing up the steps. “See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Clara Oswald.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a part 2 for the original one-shot. I needed to write more of these two adorkable idiots flirting awkwardly! I am not sure if I will add another chapter or not to tell the story of the Doctor's past near-death experience or if I will just leave it open ended. What do you guys think? :/


End file.
